Lectures on the Relation between Law & Public Opinion in England: During the Nineteenth Century

LECTURE V THE PERIOD OF OLD TORYISM OR LEGISLATIVE
QUIESCENCE (1800-1830)

FOUR points merit special attention:--the state of
opinion during the era of legislative quiescence--the
resulting absence of legal changes during the first
quarter of the nineteenth century--the inquiry, why
some considerable innovations took place even during
this period--and the causes which brought the era of
legislative quiescence to its close.

(A) State of Opinion (1760-1830)

These seventy years constitute a period of legislative quiescence; the changelessness of the law is
directly traceable to the condition of opinion. 1

The thirty years from 1760 to 1790 may be well
termed as regards their spirit, the age of Blackstone. 2
English society was divided by violent though superficial political conflicts, but the tone of the whole time,
in spite of the blow dealt to English prestige by the

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